In general, a heat exchanger is an apparatus which includes a tube in which refrigerant flows and exchanges heat with ambient air, a heat exchange fin coming into contact with the tube so as to enlarge a heat radiation area, and headers communicating with opposite ends of the tube and, as such, refrigerant exchanges heat with ambient air. The heat exchanger includes an evaporator or a condenser, and may form a refrigeration cycle system together with a compressor to compress refrigerant and an expansion valve to expand refrigerant.
In general, the tube of the heat exchanger has a tubular shape made of a copper material and the heat exchange fin has a thin plate shape made of an aluminum material.
The tube and heat exchange fin of the heat exchanger made of a metal material exhibit difficulty in shape deformation, thereby causing an increase in manufacturing costs during shape deformation thereof.
In addition, since the tube is generally manufactured by welding, refrigerant leakage may frequently occur through a gap generated during welding.
Accordingly, for manufacture of a heat exchanger which includes a metal tube and a metal heat exchange fin, complicated manufacturing processes such as a welding process and a refrigerant leakage inspection process are received. For this reason, manufacturing costs of the heat exchanger are increased and a long time is taken to manufacture the heat exchanger.